Maybe you're one of those parents (or caregivers) that know or have a kid with multiple food allergies. The holidays can be stressful enough - and watching what your kid eats shouldn't be another stress!
My daughter, Millie, tested positive for dairy, egg and peanut allergies. At first, her allergies were tough on us to understand. My husband and I love ice cream, pizza, cheeseburgers, cheese curds - you name it. We thought, how could this even be real?
We flooded her allergist and pediatrician with questions, are constantly going back for blood work and skin pricks to see if we have improvements, and religiously read labels on everything.
Our families know about her allergies well and we have preached over and over how important it is to limit these items around her. If she simply were to touch peanuts or dairy she could become anaphylactic. We have EpiPen's just in case - but its a "just in case" that I never want to have to use.
It's important for our daughter's caregivers to read labels before giving her food, too. My rule of thumb is this: if there isn't a label to read, or you just don't know whether she can have it or not - then assume she can't. The things you don't expect might have dairy in them -- like Pedialyte or Pop rocks candy.
Our house is completely dairy and peanut free. We take no chances of having our daughter come into contact with it. It's simply not worth it. She can have eggs in baked form only, and the eggs must be baked at a minimum of 350 degrees for it to be safe for her.
Every Christmas I make Old Fashioned Sour Cream Cookies. It's my husband's family recipe and I promised I'd make them every year around Christmas time. This year I made them, but with different ingredients. If you or anyone you know has any allergies to the ones listed above - I promise these are SO GOOD! Note: These cookies contain: gluten, wheat, soy, and coconut.
FOR THE COOKIE MIX:
1) Mix 1/2 cup of soft shortening, 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 2 eggs (or, you can use an egg-replacement. Check out "Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacer")
2) Stir in 1 cup of dairy-free sour cream. (We use "Follow Your Heart" dairy-free sour cream), and 1 teaspoon vanilla
3) Add 2 3/4 cup flour and 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
4) Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt
5) (this part is important!) Chill your batter for 1 hour in the fridge
6) Drop rounded teaspoon-fuls about 2" apart on ungreased baking sheet
7) Bake at 400 degrees for about 8-9 minutes
FOR THE ICING:
1) Mix together 2 cups confectioner's sugar, 3 tablespoons of dairy-free butter (We used "Earth Balance" Vegan butter), and 3 tablespoons of dairy-free heavy whipping cream (We used "Silk" dairy free whipping cream). Mix until creamy
2) Optional: You can add a splash of orange juice to the icing
Voila! Enjoy!